NFC playoff hopefuls hook up when the Vikings host the Seahawks for a Week 2 NFL exhibition bout Sunday night in Minneapolis. Both teams won their preseason openers last week, continuing their preseason success under Coaches Carroll and Zimmer. Who do we like here for our free NFL pick?

NFL Betting Odds

Week 2’s NFL exhibition betting odds opened Minnesota at -3.5 over Seattle, with an over/under of 42 points. Early betting action then dipped that total to 41.

Seahawks vs. Vikings Set-Up

Seattle opened its 2019 exhibition season with a 22-14 win over Denver last Thursday. The Seahawks spotted the Broncos the first six points of the game, then scored the next 22 and hung on from there, winning outright as two-point home dogs.

On the night Seattle out-gained Denver 301-298, out-rushed the Broncos 151-91 and held a 31/29 edge in time of possession. The Seahawks also scored on a sack-safety late in the third quarter, then took advantage of the ensuing short field to score a touchdown that put the game away.

With quarterback Russell Wilson watching from the sidelines back-up Geno Smith started but only hit on 3/9 passes for 58 yards. Fourth-year man Paxton Lynch then completed 11/15 throws for 109 yards and one touchdown, without an interception, and ran for another score.

Wilson will probably get in a series or two Sunday night, but the back-ups will then continue their battle for the No. 2 spot on the depth chart.

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Minnesota, meanwhile, opened its exhibition season with a 34-25 win at New Orleans last Friday. With starting QB Kirk Cousins behind center, the Vikings drove 81 yards to a touchdown on their opening possession of the game, led 14-12 at the half, pushed that advantage to 27-15 late in the third quarter and held on from there for the outright victory as three-point dogs.

On the night Minnesota out-gained the Saints 460-337 and out-rushed New Orleans 213-141. The Vikings defense also got in on the act, scoring on a pick-six early in the third quarter.

Cousins played one series before giving way to back-ups Sean Mannion, Kyle Sloter, and Jake Browning, who combined to hit on 15/23 passes for 182 yards and two touchdowns, with zero picks.

As with Wilson, we expect Cousins to play a couple of series Sunday night, before letting the back-ups take over.

These teams met during the preseason last year, a 21-20 Vikings victory, but the Seahawks then beat Minnesota in a real game in Week 13 of the regular season 21-7. Both starting quarterbacks actually played quite a bit in that exhibition game because it was Week 3, but it was Sloter who rallied the Vikings with two fourth-quarter touchdown passes for the win.

These teams will also meet in Week 13 of this upcoming regular season, so we don’t expect them to get too deep into their offensive playbooks.

NFL Betting Trends

Seattle is 23-14 SU, 24-12-1 ATS in nine-plus exhibition seasons under Coach Carroll, which would seem to indicate he likes to win these games.

Minnesota is 18-4 SU, 15-7 ATS in five-plus exhibition seasons under Coach Zimmer, which indicates he likes to win these games even more than Carroll.

Totals Report

Seattle’s win over Denver last week played under a total of 37.

Minnesota’s win over New Orleans last week played over a total of 37.5.

Through Thursday’s play over are 11-10-1 in this 2019 NFL exhibition season.

We don’t know who’s going to win this game. However, we’re not big fans of either teams’ back-up quarterback situation, and we like both defenses. We also expect both clubs to run the ball. So in thinking points might be hard to come by here we’re taking the under on the total for our free NFL pick.